Yeast of the Pharisees

A Sign From Heaven

The Pharisees ask for a sign, more than a miracle, something that validates the Jesus is sent by God. But Jesus has just performed a sign, showing that they ask as an excuse not to believe, rather than out of a sincere desire to find the truth. Jesus promises them that no sign will be given to them, in language that implies, If I give you a sign may I die, hinting that Jesus does give a sign (the sign of his death) and true to form, the Pharisees still don’t believe.

The Yeast of the Pharisees

In the boat story that follows, Jesus warns the disciples against this rebelliousness that charactarizes the Pharisees (and Herod). Both have seen the signs and both have misunderstood them. But the disciples, in characteristic fashion, misunderstand Jesus and get in an argument about bread. They’ve missed the point. Jesus is warning them that they can easily fall into the same trap as the Pharisees but the disciples have missed the point, and in so doing, proven Jesus’ point. While they aren’t hostile to Jesus, they are unseeing. They haven’t pressed in to understand what Jesus is doing.

Jesus asks about the feeding miracles. These miracles were a chance to show Jesus’ miraculous power, but they were also a highly symbolic statement about Jesus’ identity and mission. He is God, and he is coming to fulfill Israel’s hope and to save the gentiles as well. The disciples are happy to keep things on a surface level, but Jesus is rebuking them for not looking deeper. Who am I, and what am I doing?

We’re Like the disciples

In the church, we can also fall into the same trap that the disciples fell into. We see something of what Jesus is doing (provider or healer) but we fail to see that those things are also meant to help us see who he is and what he’s doing.

He is God, he is reconciling creation to himself. His healing and provision are meant as ways of helping us understand he is bigger than we think he is and to see, and to cooperate with his mission to the world.

Jesus gives himself for the world. When we understand this, as his disciples, we should ask, how is God calling me to give myself for the world in immitation of Jesus and in cooperation with the Father’s ongoing mission.

Illustration: Some people can never be convinced that they thing they believe isn’t true. Some children, f